On June 15, 1215, Magna Carta — the “great charter” — was signed by King John of England. Hibbitts writes, "Magna Carta has more to offer than the legal nostrums so enthusiastically celebrated by lawyers. If we look harder, it can also remind us of our substantive obligations to the weak, the vulnerable, the itinerant and the dispossessed, whose English forebears were briefly sheltered beneath its mantle. Its posture as a prototypical social contract between ruler and ruled can inspire us to build a better, stronger and more just nation for each other."